A Brief History of Bay Area MLB Center Fielders

By Rich Campbell

In the last few months in this space, we have looked at best shortstops, third basemen, second basemen, first basemen, and left fielders to have played in the Bay Area. This we look back at the best to ever play center field in Oakland and San Francisco, including one of the very best to ever play the game.

The list below is based on the number of games played with the franchises. The WAR (Baseball Reference version) presented is the value accumulated by each player in their time in the A’s/Giants, not their career overall. Let’s get started:

Willie Mays, Giants, 21 seasons, 2857 games, 154.6 WAR, 7.4 WAR per season

Similar to last month’s look at left fielders, where Barry Bonds and Rickey Henderson dwarfed the competition, may I present Mr. Willie Mays. Rather than a full summation of his career accomplishments, here are five fun facts about his career: 1) he made every All-Star team from 1954 (age 23) to 1972 (42); 2) Mays played at least 151 games in 13 consecutive seasons (ages 23 to 35) and followed that up by averaging 136 games per season the next five years, his age 36 to 40 seasons; 3) he led the league in WAR seven times while logging 8+ WAR seasons nine times; for the Immaculate Grid crowd, Mays was Rookie of the Year, MVP (twice), Gold Glover (12 times), All-Star Game MVP (twice), won a batting title and played in the Negro Leagues; 5) his career slash line was .301/.384/.557 was good for an OPS+ of 155.

Photo byMichael Marconi

Dwayne Murphy, A’s, 10 seasons, 1213 games, 31.7 WAR, 3.2 WAR per season

Dwayne Murphy was viewed through the lens of playing next to Rickey Henderson for much of his A’s career but was an excellent player in his own right. He was a six-time Gold Glove winner and slashed .247/.356/.402 in his time in Oakland. He was often called upon to take pitches to let Rickey steal bases and he led the league with 23 sacrifices in 1980. Like fellow six-time A’s Gold Glover Eric Chavez, Murphy was never named to an All-Star team, though he did finish eleventh in MVP voting in the strike-shortened 1981 season.

Bill North, A’s and Giants, 9 seasons, 985 games, 25.5 WAR, 2.8 WAR per season

North manned center for six years (669 games, 20.0 WAR) in Oakland and three seasons (316 games, 5.5 WAR) across the Bay. He led the league in steals twice in Oakland (1974, 1976) and was a key cog on the 1973 and 1974 World Series teams. He ended his career with three seasons in San Francisco stealing 58, 45 and 26 bases. While stole many bases for both teams, he led the league in caught stealing three times in Oakland and once in San Francisco. His career slash line (including time with the Cubs and Dodgers) was .261/.365/.323 resulting in a league average OPS+ of 100. North tallied 26.8 WAR in his career.

Chili Davis, Giants, 7 seasons, 874 games, 17.0 WAR, 2.4 WAR per season

Davis finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1982 (after debuting in 1981) and was a stalwart in the San Francisco outfield through 1987. He is included here as he played more career games in center (539) than right (480) and left (231) and most of those CF appearances were for the Giants. He made two of his three All-Star appearances as a Giant (1984, 1986), though actually played more career games in his seven years with the Angels (949). He also played for the Twins, Yankees and Royals in his 19 seasons, which neatly span the Eighties and Nineties (1981-1999). His career WAR is 38.3 and he is a three-time World Series Champion.

A handful of other centerfielders were important contributors to memorable A’s and Giants teams over the years, including:

Coco Crisp, A’s, 7 seasons, 734 games, 13.6 WAR, 1.9 WAR per season

Coco – as he was called by fans – was a key piece on the 2012-14 playoff teams. He was never an All-Star, but a solid contributor. His time in Oakland was highlighted by his connection to the fans including the in-stadium Bernie Lean dance craze. His stop in Oakland was the longest of his career, as he also played for Cleveland, Boston and Kansas City. He concluded his career with 309 stolen bases, 96 OPS+ and 28.9 WAR.

Dave Henderson, A’s, 6 seasons, 702 games, 19.6 WAR, 3.3 WAR per season

Henderson played for the A’s from 1988 to 1993, a time when the team made three consecutive World Series (and won in 1989). He made one All-Star team in Oakland and was solid in center while playing with A’s legends Rickey, Canseco, McGwire Eck and Stew in that period. Hendu also played for the Mariners, Red Sox, Royals and Giants (just 15 games in San Francisco in 1987). His career slash line was .258/.320/.436, good for OPS+ of 108. His career WAR was 27.6.

Brett Butler, Giants, 3 seasons, 471 games, 13.7 WAR, 4.6 WAR per season

Butler played center and led off for the Giants from 1988-90, which included the 1989 World Series team. While his time in San Francisco was short, he had a major impact, averaging nearly 690 plate appearances across those seasons and receiving down-ballot MVP votes each of those three seasons. He finally made his lone All-Star appearance the following year (1991) with the Dodgers. In San Francisco, he slashed .293/.381/.378 and averaged 42 steals per year. In his career, Butler tallied 49.7 WAR while also playing for Atlanta, Cleveland and the Mets.

Rich Campbell is a Marketing Professor at Sonoma State University by day and A’s fan by night. He has previously been a sports business contributor at Forbes.com and his academic writing has appeared in Sport Marketing Quarterly. You can find him on Twitter @RichCampbelPhD.